Tiger skins seized, two held in Kerala

Kozhikode (Kerala), Feb 16 (IANS) Kerala forest department officials have seized two tiger skins and arrested two people in Wayanad district. The seizure and arrests took place at Mananthavady and Sulthan Bathery Friday night.

“The tiger skin seized at Bathery is small in size. The tiger may be aged about one year. The other skin is from a 10-year-old tiger. In the market, the tiger skins will fetch around Rs.450,000,” C. Sasikumar, a forest officer who took part in the operation, told IANS Saturday.

Those arrested have been identified as Benny and V.K. Sunil. While Benny was arrested when he was coming on a bike with the tiger skins at Sulthan Bahtery, Sunil was arrested from an automobile workshop in Mananthavady.

“We are yet to ascertain from where they poached the tigers. The skins look fresh. They might have poached the tigers somewhere near here,” he said.

“The probe is on and some more people may be involved,” said another official.

Wayanad district, which is about 600 km from state capital Thiruvananthapuram, shares its border with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.